The Golden Site is organised by RAEC, and the competition remains all-Russian: entries are judged by category, not by city or region. In 2015, the jury reviewed more than 1,600 projects, and far from every studio managed to break into the winners' circle. For a design bureau born in Odesa and working in the Ukrainian and Russian markets, this result was notable recognition specifically within the Russian industry.
The top trophy went to the bureau's own website. In the 'Digital Agency Website' category, Sponge took first place, ahead of the studios Manyako and NewIdols. It is important to clarify: the gold went not to the agency as such, but to its own website, entered in that category. That is how the competition's categories are structured, and it was on that basis that the jury awarded the prize.
Second place was brought by Foundator, a website about trading and investments that the studio made for a client. In the 'Information Site, Blog, Financial Media' category, it took silver ahead of its competitors, while BIZ360 and RWM Capital also competed in the same category. A piece of work for an external client that made the prize ranks is telling: the competition evaluates the final product, not just the studio's portfolio.
The third award is connected to Estetico, the studio's own magazine about art. In the 'Educational Portal, Popular Science Site, Blog' category, the project took third place, while first and second went to Newtonew and 'Architecture of Soviet Modernism 1955–1985'. On the results page, Estetico's developer is not credited, so the project's link to the studio rests on the fact that the magazine was created by the bureau itself. This trophy is most accurately attributed to Sponge through its own project.
Nine points in the overall standings
In addition to individual categories, the competition also produces a ranking of 'Best Developers'. The methodology is simple: first, second and third place in the main categories earn 5, 3 and 1 points respectively. Sponge's total came to nine points, exactly the sum of its three prize places. The studio landed in the 17–19 range, alongside 'Daleye' and 'Tekart'.
Gold, silver and bronze gave Sponge nine points and a place in the top twenty of the competition's best developers ranking.
The awards themselves matter at this level, but in 2015 the bureau's reputation also rested on international platforms. In the same months, the studio's website collected 'site of the day' honours on several resources that select work for design and layout. Among them were CSS Design Awards, where the site received 'Work of the Day' on 24 May with a score of 7.80; CSS Winner, where on 13 June it became 'Site of the Day' with a score of 7.5; and Awwwards, where on 8 August it received 'Site of the Day' with a score of 7.03. Awwwards, one of the largest international web design catalogues, evaluates work by several criteria, and a place among its 'sites of the day' is considered a strong signal for clients. In addition, the bureau's website was noted in the 'Best of' nomination on Unique Designs, which curates a selection of the best work in design.
What came next
The following season of the competition showed that the success of 2015 was not a one-off. At the 2016 Golden Site, Furgoneta and Trendon each won gold, and both projects took first place in their categories. In the developers' ranking, these works brought the studios 10 points and a place in the 13–18 range. A year after the first victory, the competition again recognised work produced in the same school, and this is recorded in the competition's results.
The 2015 results remain the bureau's first major Russian award for the work itself, rather than for an individual client or an advertising campaign. The trophies for the website, the prize place for a client project and third place for its own magazine gave the studio three different confirmations at once: the ability to make a website for itself, the ability to make a website for a client, and the ability to run its own media about culture.
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